Common Causes of Abdominal Pain

Abdominal pain is one of the most common reasons for doctor visit with severity ranging from mild to life threatening. Everyone experiences abdominal pain from time to time. As with the other common symptoms, it’s important to recognize whether or not the pain requires immediate medical attention.

What are the symptoms that accompany abdominal pain?

Often times, abdominal pain is accompanied by changes in bowel movement (either diarrhea or constipation), blood or mucus in the stool, flatulence, bloating, nausea and vomiting, fever, back pain, urinary pain and urgency, chest pain, shortness of breath and cough. In women, abdominal pain may be accompanied by changes in menstrual pattern and vaginal bleeding or discharge. In these cases, the possibility of pregnancy or other diseases related to the female reproductive organs must be considered.

What are the causes of abdominal pain?

In mild cases, the causes of abdominal pain can be indigestion, constipation, food poisoning, food intolerance, gastro esophageal reflux disease, irritable bowel syndrome, gas, muscle strain, and menstrual cramps in women. More serious cases include peptic ulcers, gastroenteritis, appendicitis, gall stone, kidney stone, urinary tract infection, hernia, inflammatory bowel diseases, pancreatitis, hepatitis, and diverticulitis. The really serious problems are bowel or intestinal obstruction, perforation, peritonitis, ectopic pregnancy, ruptured abdominal aortic aneurysm, cancer of the stomach, pancreas, colon, liver, or other organs, and intestinal ischemia.

How can you tell if the abdominal pain is a sign of serious disease?

Evaluation of the onset, duration, location, quality, and other characteristics of the abdominal pain, along with the accompanying symptoms may give a clue whether or not it is caused by a serious underlying disease that requires emergency treatment. 

 

The characteristics, duration, and causes of abdominal pain can vary greatly.

Seek medical attention of you experience any of the following:

• Severe pain that restricts your movement or made you so uncomfortable that you can’t sit still.
• Pain that occurs after a recent trauma or injury
• Severe tenderness when you touch your abdomen
• A rigid, board-like abdomen
• Pain accompanied by fever over 38.3 C (101F)
• Vomiting blood or coffee grounds appearing substance
• Blood in the stool, either fresh blood or black tarry stool
• Worsening bloating or constipation or inability to pass stool
• Blood in the urine or cloudy urine
• Inability to take down food or liquid
• Shortness of breath
• Chest pain or discomfort
• Vaginal bleeding
• Pain that occurred during pregnancy
• Worsening symptoms that do not improve after 2 days
• Unexplained weight loss over a period of time

 

Other considerations regarding abdominal pain

 

Sometimes the degree of pain may not reflect the seriousness of the condition. Early appendicitis or pancreatic cancer may elicit only vague pain. In contrary, you may have severe pain from gas or muscle cramps. However, it’s better to be safe than sorry and seek medical help for all severe pain.

Generalized pain is usually caused by indigestion, gas, viral gastroenteritis, food poisoning or intolerance, and irritable bowel syndrome. Usually, the cause of generalized pain is less serious than localized pain. However, severe generalized pain with rigid abdomen is a sign of a serious problem like perforation, peritonitis, or intestinal blockage.

Depending on the location, localized pain is usually caused by abnormalities of the internal organs. Upper abdominal pain may be caused by peptic ulcers, gastro-esophageal reflux disease, or other diseases in the chest cavity like pneumonia or angina. Pancreatitis and early appendicitis usually cause pain in the central area of the abdomen. In late appendicitis, the pain will migrate to lower right abdomen. Diverticulitis causes pain in the lower left area. Location for the rest of the causes of abdominal pain may vary.

Finding out the cause of abdominal pain

 

Physical examination by a health care professional is still the most important diagnostic step. A good history taking by a doctor will give a clue to aid the diagnosis and saves you from undergoing expensive and unnecessary medical procedures. Depending on your condition, after physical examination your doctor may order stool, urine, or blood test, ultrasound, CT-scan, and endoscopy.

Treatment of abdominal pain

The management of abdominal pain depends on the cause. Mild pain from indigestion, viral gastroenteritis, or food poisoning can be treated with home treatment. Antacids, antibiotics, and other oral medications may be given for ulcers or conditions related to infection. Surgery is often needed for more serious causes like appendicitis, hernia, or perforation.

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Other articles in common symptoms:

• Everyone has had a fever at least once in their lifetime. Like pain, fever is an important sign that tells you something wrong is happening in your body. Read more about fever and when to seek help when you have one
• Coughing is basically a protective reflex to clear the lungs and airways from foreign material. It's A cough is only but a symptom, not a disease. Read more about the cough reflex
• The skin is our body's largest organ. Changes in skin appearance may be caused by something as minor as acne or they can signal a more serious underlying condition. Read more about common skin problems

Premenstrual Syndrome: Men's Worst Nightmare?

It's a common belief (among the guys, of course) that man suffers whenever a woman is having premenstrual syndrome. This is not entirely accurate. True, emotional irritability is one of the many symptoms of PMS, but not every women with premenstrual syndrome experience this problem. And if PMS was to be someone's worst nightmare, it would be more likely to be a woman's.

Premenstrual syndrome: men's worst nightmare?

What is premenstrual syndrome?

Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) involves a variety of physical, mental, and behavioral symptoms related to a woman's menstrual cycle. These symptoms occur during the two weeks before a woman's period starts, known as the luteal phase of the menstrual cycle. Three out of four menstruating women have at least one symptom as part of their monthly cycle. PMS symptoms characteristically become more intense in the 2-3 days prior to the period and usually resolve after the first day or two of flow.

Women who are between their late 20s to early 40s, those who gave birth at least once, and those who have a history of mood disorder are more prone to have PMS. Most women have only mild symptoms, but around 3-8% may have a severe form of PMS, called premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) with disabling symptoms that affect their daily functions.

What are the symptoms of PMS?

Symptoms varies between one woman and the other, but they usually follows a predictable pattern and recur each month with variable intensity. Physical symptoms include fatigue, headache, joint and muscle pain, weight gain, bloating, acne, and changes in bowel movements. Mental and behavioral symptoms include mood swings, anxiety, irritability, depressed mood, poor concentration, cravings, insomnia, and social withdrawal.

The exact causes of PMS are still unknown, but cyclic changes in hormones level seem to play an important part. Low levels of serotonin, a type of brain chemical, may also trigger PMS symptoms. Stress, depression, poor eating habit can make the symptoms worse.

How to manage PMS?

Management of PMS consists of lifestyle changes, behavioral therapy, medications, and vitamin and mineral supplementation. For most women, lifestyle changes are often enough to control symptoms.

• Drink enough fluids, but avoid alcohol, caffeinated drinks, and soft drinks.
• Eat a healthy, balanced diet and divide the portion into small, frequent meals.
• Regular physical exercise throughout the month will help reduce the severity of PMS.
• Aspirin, ibuprofen, and other non-steroidal anti inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may reduce back pain, headache, and cramps.
• Nutritional supplements like vitamin B6 (50-100 mg), vitamin E (400 IU), calcium (1000mg), folic acid (0,4 mg) and magnesium (400 mg) may reduce symptoms in general. 
• In severe cases, your physician may prescribe anti-depressant medications.

Rheumatoid Arthritis: More Than Just Aching Joints

Rheumatoid arthritis is more than just aching joints. Unlike osteoarthritis where the primary damage occurs in the cartilage, rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease where the main problem lies in faulty immune system. Chronic inflammation of the joints and its surrounding tissue are not the only problems because the disease can also cause problems with your lungs, heart, and eyes.

In 2007 about 1.5 million people in the United States had rheumatoid arthritis. It usually starts in the middle ages, between 25 to 55 years old. Incidence increases with age and women are more likely to get it than men.

As with other autoimmune diseases, the exact cause of rheumatoid arthritis is unknown. Genetic factor, infection, and hormones may play a role in the development of this condition. Unlike the wear-and-tear damage of osteoarthritis, rheumatoid arthritis causes inflammation on the synovium (the lining of your joints), causing damage to the cartilage that eventually result in bone erosion and joint deformity.

What are the symptoms?

Rheumatoid arthritis begins gradually, affecting small joints of the hands and feet at first, causing minor joint pain and stiffness that are accompanied by fatigue or low grade fever. Over time, symptoms often spread to the knees, ankles, elbows, hips and shoulders. Severity varies and symptoms may come and go. Periods of when the disease gets worse (flare-up), alternate with periods when the pain and swelling gets better (remission).

Joint symptoms may include:

• Joint pain that oftentimes affects the same joint on both sides of the body, accompanied with warmth and swelling.
• Morning stiffness that usually lasts for more than 1 hour. 
• Deformity of joints and the surrounding structure with limited range of motion

small joints of the hands and feet are usually affected first

Systemic symptoms may include:

• Fatigue
• Low grade fever
• Weight loss
• Anemia 
• Chest pain or shortness of breath 
• Dry eyes and mouth 
• Buring sensation and itchiness in both eyes
• Lumps under the skin, called rheumatic nodules.

What are the tests to support the diagnosis?

The two lab tests that often came up with abnormal results are rheumatoid factor test and Anti-CCP antibody test. Complete blood count any show anemia. C-reactive protein and erythrocyte sedimentatio rate may be elevated, a sign of chronic inflammation. Your physician may also preform joint imaging like x-ray, ultrasound, or MRI and synovial fluid analysis.

What are the complications?

Rheumatoid arthritis can affect almost every part of the body. Complications may include:

• Lung damage and scarring causing shortness of breath
• Inflammation of the heart muscle and the outer lining of the heart can progress to heart failure
• Hardening of the arteries which in turn leads to nerve, skin, and brain problems
• Spinal injury if the neck joints are affected
• Osteoporosis

What are the treatment options?

A treatment plan usually includes medications, physical therapy, exercise, and even surgery. Early and aggressive treatment can delay joint destruction, but the drugs can have significant side effects especially because they will be used for life-long.

The most important drugs that are used to treat rheumatoid arthritis are the disease modifying antireheumatic drugs (DMARDs) like methotrexate, leflunomide, and chloroquine. Anti-inflammatory drugs like aspirin, acetaminophen, nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), and corticosteroids are used to reduce inflammation and joint pain. Biologic agents like rituximab, infliximab, etanercept, and tocilizumab may be used when the other drugs failed to give improvements. They work by suppressing the immune system and thus carry risks of infection.

Basic Knowledge About Diabetes

What is diabetes?

Diabetes is a chronic disease in which blood sugar levels are above normal. An organ in our body called the pancreas produces a hormone called insulin. Insulin helps control the sugar level in your blood and help glucose to get into the cells of our bodies. Glucose is the main energy source for our cells. Even though you have high levels of it in your blood, your body cannot make use of it without insulin. In short, your cells are starving even though you have abundant energy source.

diabetes is having too much sugar in your blood

When you have diabetes, your body either doesn't make enough insulin or can't use its own insulin as well as it should. This causes sugar to build up in your blood. Diabetes can cause serious health complications including heart disease, blindness, kidney failure, and lower-extremity amputations. In 2009, diabetes was the sixth leading cause of death in the United States.

What are the types of diabetes?

There are two types of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes, previously known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM) or juvenile-onset diabetes, account for about 5% of all diabetes cases. In this type of diabetes, the cells of the pancreas can no longer make insulin because the body's immune system has destroyed them. Type 2 diabetes, previously known as non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (NIDDM) or adult-onset diabetes, account for about 90% to 95% of all diabetes cases. This type of diabetes usually begins with insulin resistance in which the body can not properly use insulin. Over time the pancreas loses the ability to secrete enough insulin in response to meals.

What are the risk factors for diabetes? 

• Being overweight or obese.
• Having a parent, brother, or sister with diabetes.
• Being African American, American Indian, Asian American, Pacific Islander, or Hispanic American/Latino heritage.
• Having a prior history of diabetes in pregnancy or birth of at least one baby weighing more than 9 pounds.
• Having high blood pressure measuring 140/90 or higher.
• Having abnormal cholesterol with HDL ("good") cholesterol is 35 or lower, or triglyceride level is 250 or higher.
• Being physically inactive—exercising fewer than three times a week.

blood sugar monitor

When should I be tested for diabetes?

 

Anyone aged 45 years or older should consider getting tested for diabetes, especially if you are overweight. If you are younger than 45, but are overweight and have one or more additional risk factor, you should consider getting tested.

What are the symptom of diabetes?

Many people have no signs or symptoms of diabetes. The symptoms can also be very vague that you might not notice them until you have suffered the complications. Initial signs of diabetes are

• increased thirst
• increased hunger
• fatigue
• increased urination, especially at night

Over time, you may also develop weight loss, blurred vision, slow healing sores. More serious findings are kidney problems, heart problems, or loss of consciousness.

What is the treatment for diabetes?

Type 1 diabetes is treated by healthy eating, exercise, and insulin injections. For type 2 diabetes, the treatment consists of healthy eating, exercise, routine blood glucose testing. In addition, people with type 2 diabetes often requires oral medication, insulin, or both to control their blood sugar levels.

People living with diabetes may see endocrinologists, who may specialize in diabetes care; ophthalmologists for eye examinations; podiatrists for routine foot care; and dietitians and diabetes educators who teach the skills needed for daily diabetes management.